Recent work has shown that quantum computation with photons is possible using only linear optics. Partial measurements of these optical quantum states are sufficient and, most remarkably, gates coupling qubits with each other are no longer required. The extension of this quantum computing approach to other types of qubits, in particular, systems based on Fermions, is desirable. A “Fermion” is a particle, such as an electron, proton, or neutron, that has half-integral spin (“spin ½”) and that obeys statistical rules (namely, the Pauli exclusion principle) requiring that not more than one in a set of identical particles may occupy a particular quantum state. Extension of “measurement-based” quantum computation to Fermions is desirable because it would eliminate the need to control the strength and pulsing of the interaction between the qubits with extremely high precision. For measurement-based quantum computation, this requirement is replaced with the much simpler one, namely to perform projective measurements, where a precise control of the coupling strength to the measurement apparatus is not required.
It is known that full Bell-state measurements (all four Bell states are differentiated) with some initial source of entanglement or partial Bell state measurements (only the parity subspace is determined) are in principle sufficient for universal quantum computing. Still, the most crucial element—the physical implementation of such measurements for Fermions—has not been found so far.
The spin degree of freedom of the electron promises many applications in the field of spintronics. Moreover, single electrons can be controlled via their charge, confining them in quantum dot structures in the Coulomb blockade regime. The spin qubit proposal combines these two fields of research and uses the spin of electrons confined to quantum dots as qubits for quantum computation, where the spin-½ state of each electron encodes exactly one qubit. That proposal includes two-qubit quantum gates relying on exchange interaction of coupled quantum dots and comprises spin-to-charge conversion for efficient read-out schemes, satisfying all theoretical requirements for quantum computing. However, if a partial Bell state measurement can be implemented in a physical system, two-qubit quantum gates are no longer required, implying considerable simplifications towards the goal of realizing a scalable quantum computer.